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A 16-year-old at a high school in Columbus is told in the hallway that she is suspended for a fight she says she did not start. Ohio law gives her specific steps before that suspension can start. Columbus is also where one of the most important school cases in the country began. In Goss v. Lopez (1975), students suspended from Columbus public schools went to court, and the U.S. Supreme Court held that a student facing a suspension of 10 days or less must be told the charges and given a chance to tell her side.
School is required from 6 to 18
In Ohio, a child between 6 and 18 years old is 'of compulsory school age', which means the law requires the child to attend school. A child under 6 who is enrolled in kindergarten also counts, unless a parent formally withdraws the child. Because school is required, being kept out of it through a suspension or expulsion is treated as a serious step with rules attached.
Suspension and expulsion: the steps Ohio requires
A principal or superintendent can suspend a student for no more than 10 school days. Before an out-of-school suspension, the school must give the student written notice of the reasons and a chance at an informal hearing (a meeting where you can challenge the reason or explain what happened). The school board must also have a policy that lets you make up missed work and get at least partial credit for it.
Expulsion (removal for a longer time) usually lasts no more than 80 school days, or the rest of the semester if that is longer. Bringing a firearm to school can mean one year. Before any expulsion, the superintendent must send written notice to the student and the parent, and offer a time to appear in person, no sooner than 3 and no later than 5 school days after the notice.
You can appeal either one to the district board of education. You can bring a representative, and you get a hearing before the board or the person it chooses. The notice tells you how and by when to ask. Ask for the hearing. You are allowed to.
What Ohio schools must do about bullying
Every Ohio public school district must have a written policy against harassment, intimidation, or bullying. State law defines it as an intentional act toward a particular student, more than once, that causes harm and makes school feel threatening or abusive. It also covers violence in a dating relationship and bullying done by phone or computer.
The policy must include a way to report, including anonymously. Staff who know about an incident must tell the principal. The school must notify the parents of the students involved, document the report, investigate it, and have a plan to protect the student from more bullying and from retaliation. The policy has to appear in the student handbook.
What to do next
Keep every written notice the school sends. Read the appeal section closely, because the deadline to ask for a board hearing is set in that notice. For bullying, ask for your district's policy by name and make your report in writing, so there is a record that the school must document.
We could not confirm a single state complaint form for Ohio suspension or expulsion decisions; the law sends those appeals to your local board of education. For other school concerns, the state education agency is the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (Ohio's state education department). Call and ask which office handles your issue.
記住這些
- Ohio requires school from age 6 to 18, and a suspension can last no more than 10 school days.
- Before an out-of-school suspension, you must get written notice of the reasons and a chance at an informal hearing, as Goss v. Lopez (1975), a Columbus case, requires.
- You can appeal a suspension or expulsion to the district board of education and bring a representative.
- Every Ohio district must have a bullying policy with a way to report anonymously and a plan to protect you from retaliation.
資料來源
- Ohio Laws: Ohio Revised Code Section 3313.66, Suspension, expulsion, or permanent exclusion (在新分頁開啟)
- Ohio Laws: Ohio Revised Code Section 3313.666, District policy prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or bullying (在新分頁開啟)
- Ohio Laws: Ohio Revised Code Section 3321.01, Compulsory school age (在新分頁開啟)
- Legal Information Institute: Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565 (1975) (在新分頁開啟)
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